Salvatore: a Dark Mafia Romance by Natasha Knight

the wall behind the four steel frames of the bed, which was perfectly made, all corners tucked neatly in, since he’d not slept here for two nights now.
    The connecting door to my room had a key in the lock. Figured it’d be on his side. Another door led to a bathroom similar to mine, just larger, this one containing black towels and bath accessories, nothing feminine about the space.
    The final door opened to a closet. I stepped into it, chuckling at the inch of space between each of the black velvet hangers that contained suits, jackets, and pants on one side, dress shirts sorted by color along another wall, and more casual wear, again, grouped by color and perfectly spaced along the final one. Three dozen pairs of shoes filled the neat little show racks, and two shelves contained belts. Ties were rolled on their own cushions, the color coding continuing even there. The drawers held underwear and socks. Everyday items. Things I for some reason could not associate with the man who owned the house.
    I ran a hand over the suits, then dragged them a little, messing up the OCD spacing, thinking it funny for a moment. But then I found myself inhaling deeply. I shook my head and walked back into the bedroom.
    It smelled like him in here.
    I tentatively touched one of the cool steel posts of the bed as I thought about what I was doing, not feeling quite good about it. I perched myself on the edge of the bed and told myself I needed to do this. To break his rules and invade his privacy like he had mine. To take back some of the power he’d taken from me when he’d made me do what he did.
    The surface of the nightstand had just been dusted. I ran a finger over it before opening the drawer and peeking inside. It was empty.
    I walked to the other side of the bed. The book lying beside the lamp told me this was the side he slept on. I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the drawer open less cautiously this time. This one wasn’t empty. I reached in and took out a bottle of what I thought was hand cream, but when I read the label, I quickly set it back down. It was a half-empty container of lubricant. Digging deeper, I found a row of condoms and behind that, a set of handcuffs.
    Voices outside the door had me quickly shoving the things back inside the drawer, and when the door opened, I dropped to the floor and slid underneath the bed.
    The women spoke, and I saw the one come inside to pick up the bucket she’d left in the bathroom before walking back out the door. This time, she didn’t forget to lock it behind her.
    “Shit!”
    I made my way out from under the bed. That was when I saw the leather restraint that hung off the post. Curious, I sat up and pulled it out from behind the cover. I then walked over to the post at the foot and found a similar one, and two more on the other posts.
    I grinned. This was a side of Salvatore I hadn’t considered, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
    But now wasn’t the time to think about that. I had a bigger problem. I had to get out of his bedroom.

    * * *
    I t took me thirty-five minutes to finally pick the lock and get into my own bedroom. Feeling like some sort of thief, I picked up my cell phone, which I’d been charging since it had run down completely. It showed six missed calls. All from Isabella. No texts, but voice mails after each one.
    “ Hey, Luce. Call me when you get this. ”
    “ Checking in, Luce. You there? ”
    “ Um, I’m feeling like a stalker. You can’t still be mad at me. Hell, you can be whatever you want. Shit, I’d be pissed. Okay, please don’t be mad at me. ”
    “ Fuck. ” Effie’s voice in the background, then my sister again. “ No, honey, mommy didn’t say a bad word. ”
    I smiled.
    “ Lucia, if you don’t call me back right now, I’m getting in my car and driving over there! ”
    “ Fuck. I’m on my way! ”
    I checked the time of the messages. The last one was from about an hour and a half ago. Which meant she’d be here any